Propylene glycol can cause a whole host of problems. It is rated a-4, which is categorized as a “moderate” health issue. It has been shown to be linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive issues, allergies/immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption. It has been found to provoke skin irritation and sensitization in humans as low as 2% concentration, while the industry review panel recommends cosmetics can contain up to 50% of the substance. Source

Quite frankly, I don’t want any of these ingredients collecting in my liver! So, I began using only tooth pastes and powders that had natural sounding ingredients. To my dismay my teeth grew progressively more yellow, and my breath became offensive! I didn’t want to ingest any of the nasty ingredients listed above and I decided my health was more important than my pearly white smile, so I just dealt with it and stopped offering a full grin in photos and conversations. *Sigh*

A few months ago we ran out of our natural tooth paste and forgot to buy more. Ooops! Since we were desperate, we threw some baking soda, sea salt, activated charcoal and peppermint oil together in a small mason jar lid and made a powder to hold us over until our next run to the grocery store. What happened next?

Well, we haven’t purchased toothpaste from the store since then (though we have honed the recipe a bit)! My teeth felt cleaner than they had for a while, and a few weeks later my pearly white teeth and neutral breath were back! Even my husband, who disliked the idea of brushing his teeth with sea salt and baking soda, changed his mind after trying it.

Upon my discovery that my mouth was significantly cleaner after the change, I shared the good news on facebook and many of you asked me for the recipe. So here it is. Our quick homemade tooth powder with step by step instructions

Update: Some of you complained that this toothpaste stained your sink. Yes the coconut oil and the charcoal can be hard to wash off. You have two options.

One: You can skip the coconut oil and make this into a tooth powder which works just as well and use the coconut oil for oil pulling instead. Read here why it is good for you dental health. Coconut oil is anti fungal and antibacterial and it will greatly benefit your oral health if you struggle with cavities or gum disease.

Directions:

1. In a small container, add the baking soda, charcoal and sea salt. (An actual jar would work too, but we find the open, shallow dish easy to dip a tooth brush into.)

Activated charcoal not only aids in pulling toxins out of your body, but is also acts as a tooth whitener. You can read more about the benefits of charcoal here.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

3. Melt the coconut oil and gently pour it in.

4. Mix everything into a paste.

5. Add 5-6 drops of your favorite essential peppermint oil, or more if you like your toothpaste very minty. Since I wrote this post I have found a new essential oil that is 100% pure and organic. So the pictures don’t reflect accurately the brand that we are using in nowadays. (You can go here to check the new brand we use).

This is your new tooth paste or tooth powder if you decided to slip the coconut oil! It will last for about a week or so. We don’t make much at a time because we like having a fresh batch every week. Also we each have a separate lid with our own tooth powder. Mine has less peppermint than my husband’s. He makes his a lot stronger.

When you brush with this, it will turn your teeth black. Don’t worry – it is not permanent! Just rinse after brushing and your pearly whites will return.

You can add other ingredients or alter the proportions if you like. This recipe is really just a framework to get you started, and there are lots of customizations that could be made – using a different flavor component comes to mind. Do you make your own toothpaste? What do you do differently to suit your own tastes or priorities? Let us know, so we can make ours even better!

MEDICAL DISCLOSURE: The information included on this website is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. None of the opinions expressed here are meant to diagnose or treat any disease or illness. You should always consult your healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for your own situation or if you have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. I only endorse products that align with the ideals of The Kitchen Rag and that I believe would be of value to my readers.

In the next batch of homemade toothpaste I will use charcoal. Just yesterday I ran out of coconut oil/baking soda based toothpaste and decided to try something else. I mixed bentonite clay and whole clove infusion and added some himalayan salt as well. This new mix feels very clean and fresh.

Hi there, how many charcoal capsules do you use to get a teaspoon? I’ve only used them once for teeth and loved the results, though getting it out of the capsule was a bit messy.
Love this and can’t wait to try it.

Diana

I usually do just one per batch:)

Nina

Which ingredient in this recipe causes it to only be good for about a week? If it’s the peppermint or the coconut, those aren’t essential ingredients, right? I was hoping to make a pretty big container of this and not have to worry about it for a while.

Also, is it safe to mix the dry ingredients in bulk and then just add liquid ingredients when ready to make a new small batch?

Diana

Great idea! Yes if you just mix the dry ingredients you can weekly just add the coconut oil and the essential oil. I will have to try that too! Thanks for the tip!

Nina

Thank YOU for the recipe

Kit

Coconut oil does not need to be refrigerated after opening and lasts for at least a year, so it should be okay to use coconut oil for larger batches. It will, however, at room temps (unless you’re in the tropics without A/C) turn solid, so your mixture may be lumpy. A little heat will resolve that, but then commercial tooth-pastes are solid. I like the one comment about using half Bentonite Clay and half charcoal, but do not use a metal spoon to mix if using Bentonite, as it reacts to metal.

http://trinja.tumblr.com/ Trinity

Made this tonight, traded half the baking soda for bentonite clay and no coconut oil (because I’ve run out). First time making my own tooth powder. Was super easy and my mouth feels great

Hi, just want to insert a FYI, I was just on the prowl for the aluminum free baking soda and found that baking soda does not contain aluminum in the first place. The one recommended is great though since it’s straight from the ground not produced by a chemical process. I’m not griping about this, it’s a common mistake that I’ve made myself, but trying to save everyone some time of searching for that claim on a baking soda product. Thanks for the recipe, I will be making mine soon, just need a couple of things. =)

Diana

I will change that. My bad. I found out about that recently and I keep forgetting to change it on here.

Lacie

That photo of you hiking around in the dunes, that wouldn’t happen to be Florence, Oregon would it?

Diana

Yep!! It is!!

Stacy

All baking soda is aluminum free…it’s baking powder that can contain aluminium

Sharon Cole

Your recipe looks great! I am not aware of any baking soda that has aluminum. Baking powder has aluminum.

Babz

I would like to try this DIY toothpaste however I have very sensitive teeth. The last time I used an organic toothpaste I had to switch back to Sensodyne because the toothpaste was not re-hardening my enamel instead to my dismay, it felt like my enamel was being scrubbed off. So, my question is, have you any idea which ingredient will actively help re-harden my enamel? I am not a fan of the whole whitening craze so I have my doubts about using the charcoal. Also, don’t you find that using a powdered toothpaste or toothpaste containing the predominant ingredient of charcoal and baking soda, is too abrasive on your teeth?

My bathroom stays pretty warm so it doesn’t harden. I would just recommend skipping the coconut oil and doing a oil pulling with it after you brush your teeth or just putting a lot less coconut oil.

Becka Siegel

I’ve really been enjoying this recipe, although mine is just a tiny bit different — I don’t use the salt since baking soda is so salty already. I do add diatomaceous earth and for my last batch I used spearmint eo instead of peppermint because it’s my newest eo purchase.

Anyway, I wanted to pass on a little tip on how to easily clean the charcoal out of the sink after rinsing. I use the ever so popular Dawn dish soap and vinegar (50/50) combo to clean my tub. I discovered that after brushing my teeth I can just give the sink a couple of squirts & wipe it out with a little t.p. Easy peasy. Just thought I’d pass it along in case anyone is turned off by the icky sink.

missy

I live in upstate NY and mine hardens from the colder climate. I just use a spoon to get it out of the jar then place it on my fingers. The heat from my fingers softens it in sec’s. I put it on my toothbrush and brush no problem.